Moulton on Democrats 'Time for a new generation of leadership in the party'

By Jill Jaracz Bedford@wickedlocal.com

Tuesday

Aug 15, 2017 at 12:30 PMAug 15, 2017 at 1:07 PM

Congressman Seth Moulton is pushing for reform in his party as a way to keep the balance in government and do bipartisan work, as racial and economic unrest in the country is bringing things to a boiling point.

In his first town hall meeting after the racial violence in Charlottesville, Moulton immediately addressed "the elephant in the room in America today," condemning the acts of violence that plagued a white supremacist rally in Virginia. "When you're killing people at your rallies, that is not free speech."

Moulton told the packed audience at Bedford High School Monday night racial issues aren't just restricted to Virginia, but are a problem in his district as well. He noted all Americans deserve equal opportunity no matter their color or ZIP code.

Before taking questions, Moulton also explained how his priorities have shifted since last year's election, from focusing on the district, nation and world to standing up to the president and reforming the Democratic party. He noted his willingness to work with the President "if he does something productive," spoke of his track record as a bipartisan Congressman and touched on regulation reform.

In terms of reforming the Democratic party, Moulton said that it has to be willing to change. "In fact, I think it's time for a new generation of leadership in the party."

During the roughly one-hour meeting, which was shortened to allow people to attend Bedford's vigil for Charlottesville, Moulton fielded questions from a mostly supportive audience.

"I found it shorter than expected," said Todd Cutrona of Bedford afterward, "but he answered thoughtfully and answered the question, not what he wanted to talk about."

Questions audience members asked covered a range of topics including gender equality, social security, immigration and healthcare.

Gender Equality

A woman asked what legislation Moulton planned to introduce to support gender discrimination in the workplace.

Moulton responded that the issue isn't just numbers, but who also gets promoted and should get promoted based on performance. Moulton said he's sponsored and co-sponsored a number of bills on gender discrimination, but the country still has work to do.

Social Security

A woman from Beverly asked what Congress is going to do to fix Social Security so that by 2030, recipients won't have to take cuts.

Moulton responded that Congress intends to do nothing because the issue is politically contentious; however, as he's only 35, he sees reason to fix it so that the system will be around for more than 25 years.

"Remove the cap," Moulton said to loud applause. "We did it for Medicare, we can do it for Social Security." He added that removing the cap would fix 80 percent of the problem but that he wanted to fix 100 percent.

"Social Security is really important in terms of we need to make some changes to it," said Marge Heckmann of Bedford afterward.

Immigration

A man from Lynnfield who is a legal immigrant asked about reducing the numbers of legal immigrants. Moulton responded that the current bill written by conservative Republicans cuts immigration to the U.S. "Economists will tell you this is a bad bill for our economy," said Moulton.

Moulton said there are ways to strengthen the borders so more people enter the country legally and create a path to citizenship for people who want to be here. This particular bill, he says, doesn't meet those goals.

Healthcare

Jeffrey from Reading talked about the 62 percent of bankruptcies occurring due to medical expenses and asked what the government could do to help this.

Moulton responded, "A lot." While he doesn't think Obamacare is perfect, it's a step in the right direction and can continue to be tweaked, just as the bipartisan efforts in Massachusetts have improved healthcare access in the state. "I think healthcare is a right, not a privilege," said Moulton.

Lee, a student at Bedford High School asked why Moulton hasn't supported the Medicare for All bill.

"I haven't signed on because it's not a good bill," said Moulton. How it's paid for will be a mess." He supports the idea that everyone should have the option for it.

While the overall response to the meeting was positive, the shorter format left some audience members wanting more. "There was not enough time to be more specific," said Anne Smith of Bedford.

"I would like to hear more of what actions, practical steps and what he's working towards," said Hildegard Fritze of Bedford.